Ledgewood silence holds up Brookfield water line

BROOKFIELD -- The Board of Selectmen must wait to finalize an amendment to an ordinance about the Silvermine Road water line.

Last year residents approved -- first at a town meeting and then a referendum -- $2.8 million to install a water line down Silvermine Road to serve several condominium complexes that state and federal authorities have asked the town deliver potable water to.

Since then,
First Selectman Robert Silvaggi
said during a special meeting Tuesday morning, he has been meeting with representatives from the condo complexes and the state to hammer out remaining questions on the project, such as where to route the lines to serve each complex.

But residents from one of the complexes, Ledgewood, have not attended those meetings, Silvaggi said, because the time they are held Monday mornings is inconvenient.

"I don't know what else to say," Silvaggi said, noting it'd be unfair to schedule the meetings in late afternoon because representatives from the state would be jammed in rush-hour traffic. "They have to make some sort of a compromise."

Anne Peters
, a lawyer representing the town on water issues, said she's unsure whether the town can build the line to the condo complex if residents there don't formally ask for it.

"If they don't request service, it's not clear yet whether the town can build (the water line) to those meter pits," she said during Tuesday's meeting.

If not, the condo residents would still have to pay higher property taxes. Their assessments would increase with a town water line going under Silvermine Road, whether it is hooked up to the complex or not, she noted.

Peters said the engineering firm designing the project for the town sent proposals for the work to Ledgewood officials but hasn't heard from them.

The selectmen took no formal action Tuesday but asked Peters to contact a lawyer working for the condo complex to rectify any remaining issues.